Power of iPhone 6 hype-gasm: Apple a sniff away from record stock high

Split share price threatening to reach 2012 apex

Peak Apple Apple's stock today inched toward the company's record high as investors eager for new products pushed shares over $100 apiece.

It's the first time Apple stock price has hit triple figures since the company undertook an ambitious 7:1 stock split in June this year.

Apple used the split to put more shares on the market and, in doing so, increase the number of potential investors. Stockholders saw each of their company shares broken down into seven smaller shares that could then grow in value faster and bring more money when sold off as a whole or portion. If you owned one share worth, at the time of the split, $644, you'd get seven $92 shares, post-split.

Today's $100-per-share value seems a far cry from the company's all-time single share price record of $705, but don't forget that larger figure is pre-split so it should be divided by seven before it can be compared to today's value.

Thus, today's $100.53 closing price on Apple's stock translates into a pre-split price of $703.71, just shy of the $705.07 peak the company briefly hit in September 2012.

The total market cap value of the company is today estimated at $601.96bn, high above the $468bn value it held in April this year just before the split – and nearing Apple's world record of $623.5bn in 2012.

Researchers with analyst firm Zacks noted that a newly revealed US patent grant could also give investors hope that Apple's much-anticipated "iWatch" wearable is looming. That patent covers the curved screen hardware which is seen as a critical component for the design of a smartwatch.

Apple is also believed to be working on a much-needed update to its iPad tablet which will likely be arriving in time for the holiday shopping season. ®